By Susan A.J. Lyttek Recently, I found myself doing the impossible. Okay, let me back up. Many years ago, I planned a six-book series. Stories one and two were finished and with the possibility of a contract, I started book three. It wasn’t intended to be a long book—about 30-35,000 words. I got to about 20,000. The contract fell through. …
Inspiring Quotes for Wavering Writers (and Everybody Else)
By Frank DiBianca Writing a novel is not a piece of cake nor is publishing one. And the better we want it to be, the harder it is. But it is one of the most fulfilling and rewarding adventures we will ever embark on. Sometimes it helps to have a bit of encouragement, and our forerunners have provided much of …
What Driving Taught Me About Writing
By Lynn H. Blackburn It’s hard to turn a parked car. Ever heard that one before? I can’t remember where I heard it first, but it’s so very true. You can be in the car, behind the wheel, motor running, ready to go. You may even have the brute strength to force the steering wheel to make the tires twist …
Put Your Feet on the Desk
By Terri Gillespie “. . . and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” 1 Kings 19:12, NKJV I have a friend who was a vice-president of a major financial institution in Manhattan. He’s an incredible idea person—a real visionary. While overseeing operations for a ministry, …
Haircuts & Hurricanes
by Kathleen Denly This year has been full of surprises, and few of them pleasant. It can be difficult to understand what God is thinking during times like these. It can be tempting to believe what we are going through is so terrible it cannot possibly result in something good. Take my hair for example. It’s very thick and dense. …
The Face of God
by Christine Sunderland Yesterday the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels was celebrated, when we recall how angels transfigure Earth with Heaven. They live among us, inspiring and protecting. They are guardians, guides, and messengers. In my recently published novel, Angel Mountain (Wipf and Stock Publishers) the Archangel Michael appears to hermit Abram with a message. Michael is a …
How to Be a Real Writer in Four Easy Steps
By Kimberley Woodhouse Step One: Write. The best way to become a real writer is… you guessed it: to write. You might have one thousand amazing ideas but you’ve flitted from one to another and never finished one of them. My suggestion is to keep a journal of all of those fabulous ideas and then sit down and focus on …
Festina Lente
By Kay DiBianca I read a cute little mystery recently entitled “Mr. Penumbra’s 24-hour Bookstore.” The book mentioned a term I had never encountered before: “Festina Lente.” This Latin term means “make haste slowly.” The Renaissance printer Aldus Manutius adopted the phrase and its symbol of a dolphin wrapped around an anchor for his publishing business. This symbol has been …
Ideas Are Everywhere…
By Janetta Fudge Messmer All writers have ideas floating around in their heads. And like everyone else, I write them down because I don’t want to forget them. Never know, I might want to use them for a book at a later date. In my case, our dog gave me the grand idea for a novel. She “told” my hubby …
Combating the Solitary Life of Writers
By Tema Banner Writing is a solitary activity – as writers we have heard this and known it from the beginning of our journey. Outside influences provide the niggling of an idea that can not be displaced, and from this will grow a story that we hope and pray touches other hearts and lives, for the Glory of God and …